OLYMPIA, Wash. - Gov. Chris Gregoire is calling a special session so that lawmakers can finish their work on patching a $2.8 billion budget hole.
Lawmakers adjourned their 60-day regular session on Thursday night. But House and Senate Democrats don't yet have an agreement on their updated budget plan or tax package.
The special session will begin Monday.
Legislators do not know how long it could go.
"I'm hoping at the most 10 days or so," said Rep. Jeff Morris, D-San Juan County.
Earlier in the day, Gregoire said she needed to see that the House and Senate have reached an agreement on three things before she would call a special session: The size of the budget, the amount of revenue needed for that budget, and the amount they'll have left over for savings.
Morris said the House and Senate have not been able to agree on where to cut the budget and how to raise taxes. Lawmakers have to make up for a $2.8 billion deficit.
The House passed a plan to raise taxes by closing tax loopholes, increasing the tobacco tax and eliminating exemptions for items like bottled water, candy and gum.
The Senate also wants to eliminate loopholes and tax smokers, but Senators voted to raise the state's sales tax by 0.3 percent.
Morris said he and fellow representatives do not like the idea of raising the sales tax.
"If your car breaks down and you have to get to work, you have to pay that sales tax," said Rep. Morris, "That's punishing in this type of economy."
After the House and Senate adjourned, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and House Speaker Frank Chopp met with the governor in her office.
Brown, D-Spokane, said that she thinks a special session could run as short as a week.
"We're not that far apart," she said. "We have the parameters of the budget, we have the parameters of a revenue package that backs up the budget. We have to agree on the final details."
Gregoire had also said that a "go home" issue for her was progress on an education reform package that could allow the state to compete for federal funds on education reform. That bill was approved by the Legislature Thursday night.
The measure looks to make low-performing schools more accountable and creates a new teacher and principal evaluation system, something that must be done in order for the state eligible for the federal dollars.
The state's application for the Race to the Top program is due in June.
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